The Slovak Institute and Research Library at the St. Andrew Abbey in Cleveland, Ohio, is the world’s largest repository of Slovak cultural, historical, and literary treasures. Since its founding in 1952, it has preserved rare books, artwork, maps, correspondence, and the personal libraries of notable Slovak intellectuals. Scholars, students, and enthusiasts from around the world rely on the Institute to explore and celebrate Slovak heritage. Recognizing the importance of preserving this vital institution, the FCSU has proudly contributed $100,000 toward its renovation and modernization. Our donation supports critical improvements including upgraded climate control, new security systems, refurbished floors and lighting, expanded research and exhibition spaces, and digitization of fragile collections to make them accessible worldwide. While we are proud to make this significant contribution, the renovation will require the support of the community to reach its full potential. We encourage individuals, families, and FCSU branches to join us in this effort. Every donation, no matter the size, helps ensure the Slovak Institute continues to preserve our shared heritage for generations to come.
Please make check payable to FCSU Financial with Slovak Institute on the memo line.
Donations can be sent to:
FCSU Financial
Attn: Slovak Institute Fund
6611 Rockside Road, Suite 300
Independence, OH 44131
THANK YOU!
Th Slovak Institute and Research Library has an international reputation. The beginnings of the collection go back to 1936, when members of the Academy of Slovak National Culture (Matica Slovenská) visited Cleveland and presented to the monastic community several hundred volumes of newly published Slovak literature. Over the years, this collection continued to grow and received a huge boost with the immigration of several Slovak intellectuals to the United States after the Second World War and the subsequent Communist takeover in 1948.
In 1952, the Slovak Institute and Research Library was officially founded through the auspices of Abbot Theodore Kojis, OSB and Rev. Andrew Pier, OSB together with a handful of Slovak intellectual emigres that made their home in Cleveland. These personalities were Dr. Francis Hrušovsky, Dr. Joseph Cincik, Rev. Dr. Nicholas Šprinc, and Dr. Karol Strmen. The connections these men made cemented relationships with other exiled Slovaks throughout the world and created a repository for many Slovak literary, artistic, and religious works that were forbidden during the Communist regime.
In 2024, the President of Benedictine High School David Schroeder outlined a new plan for the renovation of several facilities on the Benedictine campus. Apart from re-purposing the abbey library, a proposition was made to renovate and rejuvenate the Slovak Institute. In addition to renewed and refurbished headquarters, plans also call for a re-assessment and re-cataloging of the Institute’s holdings with an eye to include digitization for online access and preservation of original materials, many of which are aged more than a century. “Preservation of these materials is paramount,” commented Abbot Gary Hoover, OSB, “therefore the maintenance and development of the Slovak Institute must be a priority if Slovak cultural heritage is to be preserved in Cleveland.”
The Institute has become the repository of the personal libraries and papers of many Slovak intellectuals of the past century:
- Dr. Francis Hrušovsky: Journalist, Pedagogue, and Historian
- Dr. Joseph Cincik: Artist and Art Historian
- Dr. Karol Sidor: Politician, Diplomat and Slovak Nationalist
- Rev. Dr. Nicholas Šprinc: Poet, Author and Literary Critic
- Dr. Karol Strmen: Linguist, Polyglot and Pedagogue
- Rev. Dr. Gerald J. Sabo, S.J.: Professor, Linguist, and Literary Critic
In addition to maps, travelogues, photographs, artwork, artifacts, and correspondence, the Slovak Institute has provided many materials to people the world over who have been interested in Slovak culture and heritage. The Institute has been directed by some of Cleveland’s most honorable Slovaks: Dr. Francis Hrušovsky, Dr. Konstantin Čulen, Fr. Andrew Pier, OSB, Mr. Andrew F. Hudak Jr. and Joseph Hornack, and currently by Milan Kobulsky, who also directs the Slovak Radio Program in Cleveland.
Recognizing the needs of the Institute into the future, the current renovations will involve the following:
- New security system to protect collections
- New entrance promoting better access for all patrons to the Institute
- Makeover of the physical plant through refurbished floors, lighting, climate control, and new stack and conference facilities
- Resources to care for the collections of the Institute and Library
- Resources to promote exhibitions of the Institute’s holdings for educational purposes and digitalization of its most fragile collections
Guests to the Slovak Institute come from all around the world. Researchers from Europe and especially Slovakia, as well as the United States and Canada visit and utilize the Institute’s resources annually. Since the fall of Communism and the establishment of an independent Slovak Republic in 1993, the Institute has provided materials for the establishment of museums and exhibitions in Slovakia, especially those that chronicle the experiences of Slovak Immigration. Exchanges of resources between the Institute and Slovak cultural historians has increased in the last 25 years, which makes the preservation of its holdings all the more important for people interested in understanding Slovak culture and heritage.
Under the leadership of Abbot Gary Hoover, OSB and Dave Schroeder, President of Benedictine High School, the Slovak Institute is moving into a new and vital phase which is planned to preserve its relevance for all Slovaks, research historians, and students of culture and the social sciences. In a recent visit to the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Washington, DC, Ambassador Radovan Javorčik expressed support on behalf of the embassy of this project and will work with the Slovak Ministry of Culture to assist in procuring the necessary funds to bring these plans into reality.
Please join us in this great cultural endeavor. Your help and support are necessary for the preservation of the Slovak Institute into the future. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law and will be acknowledged on a donor wall in the refurbished Institute research hall.